Rastislav
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Arc 8 Chapter XCIV: The State of Solstheim
🕑 Added 2025-03-07 02:22:48 +0000 UTCA/n: Sorry for the slightly late chap, the nappies took me hostage
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"So in short one day you just got a revelation from Boethiah about needing to defend this here rock, were told you would be given the tools to fight, and Raven Rock was attacked a mere three days later?" I slowly repeat what was said to me.
My question was less for my benefit and more for those who had arrived while I was being given a rundown of the situation, which included the entire 'inner circle' of the expedition and a returned Marwyn.
"Indeed, Great Ashkhan." The old Ex-Ashlander Othreloth bows his head "At first I thought it to be a dream but the sense of urgency I felt was quite real."
"We still do not know what the rock actually is." Councilor Lleril adds "But the Elder's visions gave us an excuse to perform some military exercises and recheck our supplies so thankfully we were not taken too unawares."
The Ashlander scoffs "You would not have been taken unawares at all if you listened to me!"
I can practically feel the poor Redoran containing a groan of frustration "We are not going through this conversation again, especially not in front of our guests!"
"Tsk" The old elf clicks his tongue.
"You can leave your pissing contest for later." Minthara cuts them both off "Did you manage to get any information from the attackers at all?"
Not knowing how to address the human who was also his Hortator's wife, the Councilor shuffled awkwardly for a moment before simply listing "Sadly, any prisoners prove distinctly uncooperative before seemingly forgetting everything as if by a spell. We did manage to get a general idea of where they station themselves but that much is obvious from basic observation and knowledge of the terrain."
"Sounds to me like they are being controlled somehow." Minthara points out immediately.
"Yup." I nod along "This kind of organization for the little goblin shits would be impossible otherwise."
"But that would require an immense amount of power." Marwyn cuts in with a rasp, seeming oddly excited by the idea.
What a worrying fucking thought.
"Not if you used a properly formed active ritual." I inform him "And by that I mean the work of a grandmaster." I raise a finger and add "Even then you'd need a connection to something powerful, like say a Daedric realm for example."
"Delightful." The lich deadpans.
"Educational as this no doubt is." The First Councilor interjects "You implied you had some kind of idea of what is going on? The people of Raven Rock could use some assurances."
"Sadly, I am afraid I will not be reassuring you of much at all today, Councilor." I give him an apologetic look "Because when Boethiah told you you would be given the tools to fight she did not mean weapons or reinforcements. No, from what I gleaned that there little monolith is known as the Earth Stone of the Skaal faith and is a potent locus of power on this island. A rather tempting target for our own quarry, an agent of Hermaus Mora named Miraak.
Cue stiffening of backs and suppressing of bowels.
The Second Councilor stills before shaking his head and trying to look relaxed but he had already drawn the looks of half the crowd so it did not take long before he spoke "Days before the Elder received his vision, my sleep was assaulted by dreams of great monuments and promise of rewards, all in the service of the one bearing that name."
Said Elder exhales loudly before muttering for all to hear "She did not give us a weapon to fight but the very right to fight at all..."
"And that means the rest of the island has likely not been as fortunate." Savos points out over the sudden murmur "Hopefully the population outside Raven Rock wasn't too large."
The First Councilor shakes his newfound terror away with admirable speed and elaborates "Most of the wilderness was occupied by beasts or reiklings, a few coves served as pirate nests we never had the strength of numbers to torch" He seems almost hesitant as he adds "There are two other settlements however, that I suspect may have done well despite the danger."
"Yes" His second scratches his chin "Tel Mithryn is likely to have its own defenses, especially since it houses someone as mighty as Master Neloth." His gaze turns northwards "The Skaal themselves, quaint and barbaric as they are, may also have some secrets that would keep them safe but I would not hold out hope."
"What is so odd about the Skaal?" Minthara asks.
Adril gives me a questioning look but seeing me not react whatsoever he explains "They are a... simple people, my lady." He shakes his head "Oversimple even, they pride themselves in living with the land and treat it with what I'd suspect is near heretical worship to those aligned with the Aedra."
"So they are tree huggers." I deadpan.
The elf startles before holding back a smirk "Exactly, Your Grace."
Minthara gives me a bemused look "Well we will see what they are when we check on them in good time, we should probably focus on our current situation first."
"And that would be my cue." Oren, having arrived mid-conversation, interjects and walks up to us, followed closely by what seemed to be the leader of the local garrison "My lord." He salutes me "The town has been fully secured and all lines of approach are currently under watch, I doubt the rabble outside will make any kind of progress even if you decided to sit this one out." He looks to the sea "Especially since the Captain of the Jagged Crown was more than happy to stay for as long as he is needed."
"And what of the extra defenses I instructed?" I prod.
He blinks before shaking his head "Apologies, the anti-dragon ballistae automatons are being set up as we speak. The magi have it well in hand, I suspect."
I see both the Councilors mouth 'anti-dragon what now?' before the more important one blurts "Pardon me but what?!"
"Ah yes" I clear my throat "We also suspect the enemy may have gained the allegiance of a number of dragons, something that you should keep out of your mind now that we are here."
"Reassuring as that is, Your Grace" He practically hisses "That kind of information is usually not something one would evade sharing."
"Yes, yes" I wave my hand "We had more pertinent thins to discuss without you panicking halfway through."
The poor Mer sputters but does not correct me.
We continue the discussion for a while longer, slowly descending from the life threatening news to more mundane topics such as the food stores and the mood of the people, the latter not being even the slightest concern now that reinforcements had arrived of course.
The Elder tried badgering me to come to his temple and pay respects to the gods, something I planned on outright ignoring but Minthara's curiosity about Dunmeri customs had me following along anyway, which inevitably ended up with us dealing with the old fart's ash spawn problem.
Well, dealing with it would be quite the overstatement since the moment we stepped inside the furious little constructs of magic that moments prior were preparing to gut whoever entered simply stood there as I came into their view.
With but the slightest flick of my hand all the elementals simply dissipated, leaving only their powerful cores behind.
"Ok..." Minthara voices "What the fuck was that exactly?"
"Developed something of an affinity for ash in Morrowind." I only half-explain "Dissipating the things was as simple as breathing."
"I think it is more than that." She doesn't buy it for one second.
"It is" I admit without much internal complaining "But we can talk about it later."
"Fiiine" She grumbles "I knew you grew more powerful on that mountain but didn't want to bother you about it."
"What changed?" I quirk an eyebrow.
"We are married now" She grins, nay beams! "I get to badger you about anything I want."
"Of course" I deadpan, much to her amusement.
We returned to the Elder and the following minutes passed by in a blink as the man verbally fellated me while doing his utmost to ignore the 'weird ass n'wah' following me around, or whatever dumbfuck opinion he decided to hold for even stupider reasons.
Thankfully we were liberated from the old Ashlander by his slimy apprentice, who with that act saved his hide from being smacked upside the head for the cuntish (but not outright evil) vibes I got from him.
Vibe checks are unfortunately not applicable in the court of law.
'Yet.'
Inevitably, our path ended up in the Retching Netch, the local cornerclub and the only place that could reasonably hold our inner circle and give us some privacy to discuss our further plans.
We were given an abandoned manor house equivalent to the town's northwest but I doubted we would be using it too much, so I just told those that would be staying here to use it.
Back to the plan of action, it did not take long for us to get a general idea of what we were going to do.
Only the most mentally firm would be leaving, and even then only the most powerful, while the rest would be tasked with ensuring we had a base of operations to work from and a place to retreat to should the worst happen and we found we've overestimated ourselves.
"As I have said, only a few of us will be leaving Raven Rock at all until the threat has been dealt with." I make sure to face any I knew to be overeager "The first group will be led by myself and will consist of solely me, Savos, and Akulakhan. We will be marching off to Tel Mithryn to meet with Master Neloth and... request his aid in dealing with the island's problems."
Some of my more veteran subjects look just about ready to grumble but my repeated gaze silences them.
"The second group" I raise a second finger "Will be led by Minthara and will consist of herself, Serana, and our masked friend here."
Questions were naturally asked, but when Davos of all people chuckled and shook his head, stating that they "Didn't want to know" They were silenced, temporarily at least.
Serana, who had been quite bored ever since our arrival, suddenly sported a rather bloodthirsty grin on her face "And where exactly will we be going?"
"The temple at the center of the island, the one belonging to our all too mysterious friend, Miraak." I tell her "A place no doubt fraught with peril and probably a dragon or two."
"Haven't had a proper snack in a while." Minthara interjects with a grin, and the two suddenly felt like they had been best friends forever.
Still, the Dreaded Dragon Overlady Soulmuncher had enough presence of mind to force herself back to the topic at hand "After we are done we will meet at where we suspect the Skaal settlement is located, and there we will decide on a following course of action depending on the information."
"And what of the rest of us?" To my surprise it was Almeril Faren of all people that asked the question, not because of the contents but because rarely if ever did the man act in a way that could be taken as 'insubordinate' in any way.
No doubt seeing my flicker of surprise, he elaborated "Pardon my bluntness, Your Grace, but I've seen you rend armies apart by your lonesome before, and I do not know you to waste effort or time, so why bother bringing us here at all?"
My resulting long stare is broken by a low chuckle that then proceeds to increase in intensity for a while before I offer the man a short but not mocking clap of the hands "Indeed, Faren, indeed. I suspect we will be able to reduce the hold the enemy has over the island during our upcoming hike, once this is done I want you all prepared to strike out and cleanse this island of all threats to Raven Rock."
I lean in with a grin "After all, with its position on an important trade lane between Morrowind and Skyrim, I feel the title of city is much more suitable for this former mine, instead of a mere town."
And just like that, the Dunmer and Falmer present were more than happy to wait and prepare.
Minthara would have to deal with her own subordinates, especially with the trio of Junia, Lydia, and Skirnir, who all looked rather downtrodden to be left behind on such a grand quest.
Not Marco though, the little shit was all too happy to stay away from any potential mindfuckery, to the point I was tempted to take him with me just to fuck with him.
I would be merciful.
This time.
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The night of light carousing passed us by swiftly enough and as dawn came we found ourselves standing by the gatehouse, unnoticed by the people since neither group wanted to deal with a full procession, and ready to strike out against the small army outside.
Except for one addition "Marwyn, didn't expect to see you here." I greeted the lich, even as we both knew I noticed him listening in yesternight.
He scoffs "Don't pretend you didn't see me. I want to come with you."
'Quite blunt of him' I raise my eyebrows "Even with all the risks I listed?"
"You told me yesterday growing in power is all about going against the odds, no?" I feel the slightest tinge of determination from his corpse "I am sick and tired of being a weakling."
I share a look with Savos, who merely shrugs, leaving the decision fully on me.
"Very well." I nod "However do not expect me to slow down whenever you pull your funny bone."
"Hilarious." He drawls "I am curious though, why let me listen in at all?"
"Oh that?" I shrug "I was curious about what you'd do."
He made a point of using air magic just to sigh at me.
Shaking my head I turned to Minthara and her group "You all ready?"
"As we will ever be." Nerevar shrugs.
Serana merely plays with an extended claw of hers, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Minthara on the other hand takes a moment to draw me into a quick hug "Stay safe, alright?"
"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" I ask while hugging her back.
"We both know you are the crazier one." She deadpans "And that is saying something."
I snort and kiss her on the cheek before disentangling myself "Rest assured, my lady, we shall all return hale and hearty before long."
She smiles, nods, and turns to the gate "What are we waiting for then?"
I call for the gate guard, startling the shit out of the elf for a moment before he nearly doubled over with how quickly he reached for the gate mechanism.
The gates split open, and the land of Solstheim beyond the safe haven of Raven Rock was left bare for us.
Naturally the first thing I did was summon my staff and begin casting a firestorm atop the reikling camp.
Just because my people could deal with them on their own did not mean I couldn't get my dose of war crime first!
Comments
Hakkira
Thank you kindly for the chapter 😁
StarlightGhoul
Thank for the chapter! Hahaha soulmuncher was a good one.
